Tempering Power

'Martin Krygier's Tempering Power is a tonic for disappointments with our tarnished democracies. It elegantly reconfigures how we think about the rule of law, its history and future as a concept. Krygier shows how tempering power is a fertile foundation for a more decent constitutional architecture, and a civil society architecture, for the dangerous challenges of this century. It is no less than a foundation that can help to prevent wars, help prevent ecological collapse, moderate the burgeoning globalization of disease, temper the excesses and hallucinations of AIs. This is a meaning-making book for readers who care about the fate of freedom for an era of daunting challenges.' John Braithwaite, Australian National University
'This is the manifesto that interdisciplinary scholars of political liberalism, of transitions away from tyranny, despotism, concentrated and wild power, have long awaited. Tempering Power presents a declaration of emancipation from the endless rule-of-law definitions, measurements, and implementation indicators that have diverted attention for too long from cornerstones of the good political society. By richly contextualizing rule-of-law, and its place among other social institutions, practices, and ways of being in society, Krygier turns our eyes upon a greater good, convincing us of a new and better way forward. Brilliantly crafted and engagingly accessible, this political sociology of law could not be more timely for scholars, citizens and rulers, as the seductions of untempered power are manifested by would-be demagogues on every continent.' Terence Halliday, Research Professor Emeritus, American Bar Foundation, and co-editor of the book series on lawyers and political liberalism